Merlin

Merlin, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a female merlin on a fence post at Point Reyes National Seashore.

A female merlin perches on a fence post at Point Reyes National Seashore.

As I mentioned in my last post on December 4, I saw some hawks during that trip to Point Reyes.  Here’s a female merlin sitting on a fence post on the K Ranch that I photographed that day.

There are 340 miles of fencing in Point Reyes and Golden Gate parks now.  FEIS at 110.  https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?documentID=106632   About 20% (68 miles) of that fencing will be replaced over the next 20 years of ranching (i.e., 3.4 miles/year), presumably with wildlife-friendly fencing replacing it as promised in the FEIS.  Ibid.  At that rate it will take 100 years to replace the existing fencing with wildlife-friendly fencing.

In addition, 24 miles of additional fence would be installed for the Resource Protection subzone, and an additional 35 miles of new fence would be constructed to improve livestock management over the 20-year lease/permit term.  Id.

As slow as that will be, there is reason to question whether any of the new fencing will actually be wildlife-friendly.  A project to re-pave and re-construct portions of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard was recently finished in Point Reyes Seashore.  The new fencing along the road is far from wildlife-friendly.   It was built too high for adults to safely jump over and with not enough space at the bottom for deer fawns and elk calves to crawl under to keep up with their mothers.  The top two wires are also too close together tp prevent “scissoring,'” that is, to prevent deer and elk legs from getting caught between the top two wires if their hind legs don’t clear the top wire when they jump.   To see what happens when the hind legs don’t clear the top wire and the animal gets “scissored,” see this:  https://jimcoda.com/tag/larry-thorngren/

Finally, why should national park visitors have to climb over, under or through hundreds of miles of barbed wire fencing to hike on lands owned by the Park Service/Federal Government?

Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a coyote in new green grass.

Coyote Standing in New, Green Grass

I was out at Point Reyes yesterday.  It was a fairly good day wildlife photography-wise.  I was able to photograph this coyote, a badger, a bobcat, some elk and some hawks.  The coyotes look good right now with their new winter fur.

I prefer the winter and spring for photography at Point Reyes because the grass is green.  Unfortunately, cattle ranching has converted the grasses from the native, perennial grasses that stayed green throughout the year to non-native, annual grasses that die each year when the winter/spring rains end and we go into our dry Mediterranean summer and fall when the place looks like a waste land.

Badger

American Badger

This is a close-up side view photo of a badger with its tail up.

Where did that gopher go?

This badger was digging at both ends of a gopher tunnel.  While he was digging at one end, the gopher escaped from the other end.  The badger didn’t see it, but somehow sensed it had left and did a little circle around the diggings and picked up the scent and got the gopher.  I was impressed.

It reminded me of a badger in Yellowstone at the picnic area near Yellowstone Bridge that entered a fox den and spent a day or two eating the food cache the fox parents had created.  When the badger entered the den, the fox kits escaped from a back entrance.  After a day or so eating the food cache, the badger left the den.  When it left it began smelling the ground, picked up a scent trail,  and made a bee line to the entrance of a nearby second den where the fox kits had gone.  It entered that second den, which we later learned didn’t have a second entrance/exit.  Unfortunately, the kits were trapped.  The badger spent the next day or two in that den and killed and ate all the kits.  It was a sad tale that unfolded over several days to a lot of photographers and viewers.  When I witness something like this I have to remind myself that this is an example of the balance of nature.  It’s worked very well until we humans came along.  Unfortunately, we’re making a mess of it.

Wolf

Gray Wolf, Yellowstone National Park

This is a photo of a gray wolf crossing a creek in Yellowstone.

A gray wolf crossing a creek in Yellowstone.

This wolf had been feeding on an elk carcass in this Yellowstone meadow for a few days.  Note the full belly.  During that period I never saw another wolf or bear at the site.

Wolf

Gray Wolf, Yellowstone National Park

This is a photo of a male wolf in Yellowstone.

Many years ago the entire Canyon Pack passed by me at close distance.  This was at Twin Lakes.  Actually, it happened twice. The other time I was photographing marmots at the north end of Yellowstone Lake.  The marmots started screaming like crazy.  Then I got a glimpse of a Canyon Pack wolf walking on the other side of the marmots.   When that ended I decided to quit.  I turned around to go back to my car and, lo and behold, another Canyon Pack member was ambling along between me and my car parked twenty yards away.  I had a 500mm lens in one hand and a tripod in the other hand.  All I could do was watch as it went by.  At least I got the shot above near Twin Lakes.